» Toshiba 30HF83 30" TheaterWide HD-Ready TV with PURE Flat Screen

Toshiba 30HF83 30" TheaterWide HD-Ready TV with PURE Flat Screen Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: TOSHIBA 30HF85 HDTV New TV under repair
Comment: Purchased the 30HF85 01/02/06 -- We were out looking for the 'best buy' on this particular TV as we researched top pics through consumers and other opinion rated sites such as this. Salesman said they had 2 left - I asked it they can do better on the price -- he checked and said yes. I was really surprised they lowered the price by $ 124.00! They were asking $799.99 for it -receipt says $124.00 Pkg Price Discount (whatever that means) so out the door with tax I paid $726.69.


I really like the Wide, Flat screen, the digital picture, sound & geat color. We have been very pleased with our purchase & everything was working fine & in an instant it turned off and would not turn back on.
To summarize this review: TV went bad after 6 months. Found out today it has a bad Horizontal Output Transistor & needs a Fly Back. Have to order the part -- it takes week to 10 days & then they will call to reschedule coming out to install it.

Stores WILL NOT take back TV's. You are at the mercy of the manufacturer. No one cares that you spent whatever on a TV & now do not have one to watch. I was told TVs are not made like they used to -- yet we pay more. I researched many months before making my decision to buy the 30HF85. Main point for writing is to share my experience in buying a new set that went bad. Yes, it is under warranty but that does not make the entire experience worth the time it took for me to get my TV set to work - which I am still waiting to see. It was a real eye opener. So in a nut shell, if you buy a new TV & it goes bad...don't expect to return it....you have to deal with the manufacturer.

Background Info.:

Two weeks ago during a great movie the TV shut off. I thought my leg hit the remote but it would not go back on. I tried to turn it on by pushing power button on set -- no luck. Unplugged it, let it sit, and tried another outlet -- still no luck. How bizarre!

When this happened I called the store I purchsed it from. The first thing they ask is: Did you buy extended warranty? I did not. The salesman said, " well that is why you should buy Ext. Warranty". I was not happy. My last Toshiba lasted 13 years -- with no problems. I was told two different times by staff at the store that they do not make sets like they used to.

I was told to call the manufacturer. So I called Toshiba. Was quickly told I needed the receipt to get warranty work done & that I would have to call a certified-authorized Toshiba Repair Center. They gave me a number close to my zipcode. I called, got an answering machine for 3 days. I left a message. I never got a call back. Called again & was told they are short-handed and can not help me. They referred me to another Certified Toshiba Repair Center. I called & was greeted by a rude lady. I was scheduled a week later & just today had the technician come and take a look. So maybe in 2 weeks I will have my TV working.

Both my hubby & I have been pleased with this set. But never believed it would go bad already. Just thought I would share.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Now if everybody would broadcast in HD...
Comment: Incredible picture. The cable guy who installed our new HD box commented that it was the best picture he'd seen, and all he DOES is install High Definition boxes for our cable company!

Regular TV is much worse than a decent analog TV, though. Not a problem, as all the affiliates around here broadcast in Hi-Def as well as standard. Separate channels on the cable box for the Hi-Def signal. Unfortunately, you can only get about 10 HD channels currently. I have noticed that the channels below #100 on our cable look worse than they did with the old set. All the channels above 100 look much better than on the old set. All the HD channels look incredible!

Speaker system is outstanding for a TV. The sub-woofer really kicks out the bass!

I've had no problems with jitter or anything like that.

DVD movies look best with progressive scan OFF. Explained to me by a guy who owns a specialty auio/video store, this is because the chipset in the TV itself is much higher end than most progressive-scan DVD players, therefore producing a better picture without the progressive scan on than with it on.

Instead of Picture In Picture, this has Picture Out Picture (at least, I think that's what POP stands for), which is two pictures side by side. Highlight the one you want to hear. You can also program "favorites", and this will get you a bunch of different pictures surrounding the main one, if you choose, with each smaller picture a still shot. Pretty neat. From what I understand, these features don't work with a DVI input. Why, I don't know. They may also not work with some cable boxes and satellite boxes, but they work with just the regular cable into the back of the set.

I haven't used the DVI input, but the composite cable picture is incredible.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Toshiba TVs are not reliable.
Comment: I purchased a Toshiba HDTV and had it fail just after the 2 year warranty expired. Toshiba explained there was nothing they would do back up their product. No TV should fail after 2 years. I recommend selecting another brand, you can get the same performance and price, and end up with a more reliable product.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Gave it a chance and I love it
Comment: I wanted a TV that would fit in my existing entertainment system, so the options were very easy between this Toshiba 30HF84 (the replacement for the 30HF83) and Samsung TXN3098, both which were less than 33" wide. The decision on which one, however, was excruciating for me. I had a difficult time finding either of them in person to compare side by side, researched every possible feature down to the smallest detail, ending up looking at the Samsung 26" or a similar model Toshiba in the store for comparison purposes, and read all the online reviews you could imagine. Yes, I'm one of those types of people. In the end, I chose the Toshiba based on the following:

Pros on Toshiba
- Less money
- I bought it locally so it got here in time for football season
- Generally thought of as better product than Samsung

Cons on Toshiba
- Does not have PiP
- Silver case instead of charcoal (my preference)

Pros on Samsung
- In the store, seemed to have a brighter picture
- Had PiP

Cons on Samsung
- An issue - as seen in reviews and confirmed by their tech support - where if you go in and set the picture to wide, stretched, etc, it doesn't remember it and you have to reset it each time you turn on the tv.
- Generally thought of as a lower end product, but I had differing stories that they were making TVs for Sony, they were up and coming, etc etc.

The Decision
I was going back and forth for 2 weeks. Was I stupid to get the Toshiba if the Samsung picture looked better? Did I need PiP? There were pros and cons on each. In the end, I realized that I would be getting a great TV no matter what. I called tech support for both companies and got right through. So in the end, the switching-modes issue for Samsung was a slight factor, but the Toshiba was $200 cheaper and I could have it 2 days later (I consider this a 'filler' TV anyway for a year or two until I'm ready to step up to a 42" plasma when prices come down).

Here's what sucks... while I was concerned because of the Samsung issue in switching modes, this feature is not usable AT ALL for me on the Toshiba. I have Time Warner in NYC and HD channels work fine widescreen in that mode. But non-HD channels show up as 4:3 and I guess they're broadcasting at 1080 or 720, because I can't stretch a 4:3 show into wide mode. Toshiba only can take 480 signals and stretch them. Could be a setting I'm missing, but that's me. However, I'm finding I mostly watch the main networks and DVDs anyway. Right now I hooked up my 'regular' DVD player through digital audio cables and component video, and it looks and sounds spectacular. Not sure how much better it can get with a progressive scan player, but they're only $65 so I'm going to get one anyway and hope there's at least a noticeable difference.

Bottom Line
Both TVs are sweet, and I am very very happy so far with the Toshiba. I have it hooked up through an HDTV digital cable box with DVR built in using component video, and to my receiver with Digital Audio Coaxial cables for sound. Ten seconds watching Discovery Channel HD Theater and you'll be in heaven. I recorded the Patriots-Colts NFL kickoff game and have been using that as a demo to show my friends how good the signal and picture are. I'm looking forward to a great fall of football, baseball playoffs and am currently buying some 'surround sound widescreen' DVDs off Amazon (True Lies, Ronin, Braveheart, Gladiator, True Romance, The Fugitive, Finding Nemo, Pirates of the Carribbean, etc) to build up a little collection.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great entry level wide screen HD tv
Comment: Great entry level, easy to use, with phenominal sound and perfect HD picture....only 24'' deep. Would strongly reccomend. No problems, right out of the box...ALSO Have made extended checks, re: horizontal jitter in HD mode. I have no such problem referred to in earlier reviews.

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